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7 West Valley businesses with staying power

7 West Valley businesses with staying power - over 60 years' worth!

These West Valley businesses opened their doors before the Federal Communication Commission approved CBS's color television technology as the national standard. Before the credit card and bar codes. Before the Beatles formed and Elvis danced on the "Ed Sullivan Show." Still standing, they have watched the West Valley transform from sprawling farms to the populated suburbs we know today.

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City of Glendale

Glendale

Sine Ace Hardware

Location: 7150 N 51st Ave, Glendale

The story: Three brothers, Floyd Homes, Tuck and Van Sine built a two-story, Mission-style building in downtown Glendale in 1912 and opened a hardware store. The family remained there until relocating in 1991. Multiple generations owned the store until the Sines sold the shop to Jessica and Gary Belfore in the 2000s.

Also in 1912: The RMS Titanic sunk in the north Atlantic Ocean.

City of Peoria

Peoria

Wilhelm Automotive

Location: 8245 Grand Ave., Peoria

The story: Joseph Wilhelm and his uncle Ansel started their repair shop businesses in 1928. Joseph ran the shop for 50 years and his wife Mary Margaret kept the books. The pair became the go-to couple for repairing local farmers' equipment. Wilhelm sold the shop by 1979 to Charley and Mary Jane Gyder and the businesses continues to this day.

Also in 1928: Mickey Mouse made his first television appearance in "Steamboat Willy"- the first cartoon to successfully synchronize sound.

David Wallace/The Republic

Glendale

Sands Chevrolet

Location: 5418 NW Grand Ave, Glendale

The story: Louis Sands opened a small dealership at his gas station in 1935, employing 10 mechanics and selling mostly pickup trucks. Sands even kept the place afloat during World War II - when General Motors stopped making domestic vehicles and instead made tanks - by selling flatbed trailers and bicycles. Buzz Sands, the current owner, took over for his father in 1975. He has since expanded to two other West Valley locations.

Also in 1935: The Hoover Dam, originally named Boulder Dam, was completed.

Pratt's Pets and Feed

Glendale

Pratt's Pets and Feed

Location: 5237 W. Glendale Ave., Glendale

The story: Emerson Pratt opened his store in Phoenix in 1936 primarily as a feed store for area farms. The store moved to Glendale in the 1950s to follow agriculture, as growth pushed farmers further west. Three generations of the family have owned the store, which now sells a wide range of animals, from hamsters to llamas. Zeus, a rooster, greets customers at the door. The shop sells almost 20,000 chickens a year.

Also in 1936: Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to his second term as President.

Glendale

La Perla Cafe

The story: Joe and Eva Pompa opened La Perla in 1946 after Joe left his electronics job at Goodyear Aerospace. Eva, born in Santa Roselea, Chihuahua, Mexico, and Joe, born in Pierce, Ariz., both grew up in the Clarksdale area. Joe spent his youth working in copper mines and later became a champion middle-weight boxer. He stopped boxing at the behest of Eva shortly after they married and earned a degree in electronics. Joe actually invented a taco shell production machine, first crafted from scrap airplane parts.

Also in 1946: Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his famous Iron Curtain speech, condemning the Soviet Union's policies. The speech is considered to be one of the first pronouncements of the Cold War.

Stotz Equipment

Avondale

Stotz Equipment

Location: 11111 W. McDowell Road, Avondale

The story: Fred Elder and Jim Deaderick founded the store as Arizona Machinery in 1947, dealing John Deere and Caterpillar equipment for much of Arizona. The Caterpillar dealership split off in 1959 but Elder kept John Deere to later hand it down to his son-in-law Ferenc Rosztoczy. The dealership remains a family business, with Ferenc's oldest son taking the lead as CEO and his two other sons working for the business as well. The company now has three dealerships in eight western states.

Also in 1947: Roswell, New Mexico, became famous for an airborne object crashing into a ranch nearby the city, launching theories that an alien craft had wrecked there and its occupants were captured.

Hickman's Family Farms

Glendale

Hickman's Family Farms

Location: 331st Avenue and Baseline

The story: Hickman's Family Farms, which now processes three-quarter-of-a-million eggs per hour, started from a back porch with just a few chickens. Nell Hickman's family moved to Glendale in 1944 from Kansas, where women commonly kept a small flock of hens to make extra money for the family by selling eggs. In Glendale, the practice wasn't so common - so Nell began adding hens to her flock and selling to a growing number of customers from her back porch.

The business grew to another location near 91st and Northern avenues and eventually landed where it stands today.

Also that year: Allied forces invaded Normandy, an operation famously termed as "D-Day."

This is downtown in 1950 looking east along Glendale Avenue at the six-points intersection of Grand, Glendale and Central (59th) avenues. Grand and the Santa Fe railroad tracks cut diagonally across Glendale Avenue. Tree in the center delineate City (Murphy) Park. On the right, are the warehouses and silos of Southwest Flour and Feed Company. The large building in the lower left, on Central Avenue, is O?Malley Lumber Company. The buildings in the block west of the park are gone, replaced in the 1980s by the Municipal Office Complex and parking garage.(Photo: Glendale Arizona Historical Society)

These West Valley businesses opened their doors before the Federal Communication Commission approved CBS's color television technology as the national standard. Before the credit card and bar codes. Before the Beatles formed and Elvis danced on the "Ed Sullivan Show." Still standing, they have watched the West Valley transform from sprawling farms to the populated suburbs we know today.

If you know of any other businesses that have stood the test of time contact Wyatt Buchanan, West Valley editor, at wyatt.buchanan@gannett.com.

Sine Ace Hardware

Three brothers, Floyd Homes, Tuck and Van Sine built a two-story, Mission-style building in downtown Glendale in 1912 and opened a hardware store. The family remained there until relocating in 1991.(Photo: Glendale Arizona Historical Society)

Location: 7150 N 51st Ave, Glendale

The story: Three brothers, Floyd Homes, Tuck and Van Sine, built a two-story, Mission-style building in downtown Glendale in 1912 and opened a hardware store. The family remained there until relocating in 1991. Multiple generations owned the store until the Sines sold the shop to Jessica and Gary Belfore in the 2000s.

Also in 1912: The RMS Titanic sunk in the north Atlantic Ocean.

Wilhelm Automotive

Joseph Wilhelm and his uncle Ansel started their repair shop businesses in 1928. Joseph ran the shop for 50 years and his wife Mary Margaret kept the books. The pair became the go-to couple for repairing local farmers' equipment. Wilhelm sold the shop by 1979 to Charley and Mary Jane Gyder and the businesses continues to this day.(Photo: Joe and Mary Marg)

Location: 8245 Grand Ave., Peoria

The story: Joseph Wilhelm and his uncle Ansel started their repair shop businesses in 1928. Joseph ran the shop for 50 years and his wife Mary Margaret kept the books. The pair became the go-to couple for repairing local farmers' equipment. Wilhelm sold the shop by 1979 to Charley and Mary Jane Gyder and the businesses continues to this day.

Also in 1928: Mickey Mouse made his first television appearance in "Steamboat Willy" — the first cartoon to successfully synchronize sound.

Sands Chevrolet

Louis Sands opened a small dealership at his gas station in 1935, employing 10 mechanics and selling mostly pickup trucks. Sands even kept the place afloat during World War II - when General Motors stopped making domestic vehicles and instead made tanks - by selling flatbed trailers and bicycles. Buzz Sands, the current owner, took over for his father in 1975.(Photo: David Wallace/The Republic)

Location: 5418 NW Grand Ave, Glendale

The story: Louis Sands opened a small dealership at his gas station in 1935, employing 10 mechanics and selling mostly pickup trucks. Sands even kept the place afloat during World War II — when General Motors stopped making domestic vehicles and instead made tanks — by selling flatbed trailers and bicycles. Buzz Sands, the current owner, took over for his father in 1975. He has since expanded to two other West Valley locations.

Also in 1935: The Hoover Dam, originally named Boulder Dam, was completed.

Pratt's Pets and Feed

Emerson Pratt opened his store in Phoenix in 1936 primarily as a feed store for area farms. The store moved to Glendale in the 1950s to follow agriculture, as growth pushed farmers further west.(Photo: Pratt's Pet and Feed)

Location: 5237 W. Glendale Ave., Glendale

The story: Emerson Pratt opened his store in Phoenix in 1936 primarily as a feed store for area farms. The store moved to Glendale in the 1950s to follow agriculture, as growth pushed farmers further west. Three generations of the family have owned the store, which now sells a wide range of animals, from hamsters to llamas. Zeus, a rooster, greets customers at the door. The shop sells almost 20,000 chickens a year.

Also in 1936: Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to his second term as President.

La Perla Cafe

Joe and Eva Pompa opened La Perla in 1946 after Joe left his electronics job at Goodyear Aerospace. Eva, born in Santa Roselea, Chihuahua, Mexico, and Joe, born in Pierce, Ariz., both grew up in the Clarksdale area. Joe spent his youth working in copper mines and later became a champion middle-weight boxer. Joe invented a taco shell production machine, first crafted from scrap airplane parts.(Photo: The Republic)

Location: 5912 West Glendale Avenue, Glendale

The story: Joe and Eva Pompa opened La Perla in 1946 after Joe left his electronics job at Goodyear Aerospace. Eva, born in Santa Roselea, Chihuahua, Mexico, and Joe, born in Pierce, Ariz., both grew up in the Clarksdale area. Joe spent his youth working in copper mines and later became a champion middle-weight boxer. He stopped boxing at the behest of Eva shortly after they married and earned a degree in electronics. Joe actually invented a taco shell production machine, originally crafted from scrap airplane parts.

Also in 1946: Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his famous Iron Curtain speech, condemning the Soviet Union's policies. The speech is considered to be one of the first pronouncements of the Cold War.

Stotz Equipment

Fred Elder and Jim Deaderick founded the store as Arizona Machinery in 1947, dealing John Deere and Caterpillar equipment for much of Arizona. The Caterpillar dealership split off in 1959 but Elder kept John Deere to later hand it down to his son-in-law Ferenc Rosztoczy. The dealership remains a family business.(Photo: Stotz Equipment )

Location: 11111 W. McDowell Road, Avondale

The story: Fred Elder and Jim Deaderick founded the store as Arizona Machinery in 1947, dealing John Deere and Caterpillar equipment for much of Arizona. The Caterpillar dealership split off in 1959, but Elder kept John Deere to later hand it down to his son-in-law Ferenc Rosztoczy. The dealership remains a family business, with Ferenc's oldest son taking the lead as CEO and his two other sons working for the business as well. The company now has 23 dealerships in eight western states.

Also in 1947: Roswell, New Mexico, became famous for an airborne object crashing into a ranch nearby the city, launching theories that an alien craft had crash-landed and its occupants were captured.

Hickman's Family Farms

Hickman's Family Farms, which now processes three-quarter-of-a-million eggs for per hour, started from a back porch with just a few chickens.(Photo: Hickman's Family Farms)

Location: 331st Avenue and Baseline

The story: Hickman's Family Farms, which now processes three-quarter-of-a-million eggs per hour, started from a back porch with just a few chickens. Nell Hickman's family moved to Glendale in 1944 from Kansas, where women commonly kept a small flock of hens to make extra money for the family by selling eggs. In Glendale, the practice wasn't so common - so Nell began adding hens to her flock and selling to a growing number of customers from her back porch.

The business grew to another location near 91st and Northern avenues and eventually landed where it stands today.

Also that year: Allied forces invaded Normandy, an operation famously termed as "D-Day."

These following West Valley businesses opened their doors before the Federal Communication Commission approved CBS's color television technology as the national standard. Before the credit card and bar codes. Before the Beatles formed and Elvis danced on the "Ed Sullivan Show." This photo is of downtown Glendale in 1950. (Photo: Glendale Arizona Historical Society)

Emerson Pratt opened his store in Phoenix in 1936 primarily as a feed store for area farms. The store moved to Glendale in the 1950s to follow agriculture, as growth pushed farmers further west. (Photo: Pratt's Pet and Feed)

Three brothers, Floyd Homes, Tuck and Van Sine built a two-story, Mission-style building in downtown Glendale in 1912 and opened a hardware store. The family remained there until relocating in 1991. (Photo: Glendale Arizona Historical Society)

Fred Elder and Jim Deaderick founded the store as Arizona Machinery in 1947, dealing John Deere and Caterpillar equipment for much of Arizona. The Caterpillar dealership split off in 1959 but Elder kept John Deere to later hand it down to his son-in-law Ferenc Rosztoczy. The dealership remains a family business. (Photo: Stotz Equipment )

Joseph Wilhelm and his uncle Ansel started their repair shop businesses in 1928. Joseph ran the shop for 50 years and his wife Mary Margaret kept the books. The pair became the go-to couple for repairing local farmers' equipment. Wilhelm sold the shop by 1979 to Charley and Mary Jane Gyder and the businesses continues to this day. (Photo: Joe and Mary Marg)

Louis Sands opened a small dealership at his gas station in 1935, employing 10 mechanics and selling mostly pickup trucks. Sands even kept the place afloat during World War II - when General Motors stopped making domestic vehicles and instead made tanks - by selling flatbed trailers and bicycles. Buzz Sands, the current owner, took over for his father in 1975. (Photo: David Wallace/The Republic)

Joe and Eva Pompa opened La Perla in 1946 after Joe left his electronics job at Goodyear Aerospace. Eva, born in Santa Roselea, Chihuahua, Mexico, and Joe, born in Pierce, Ariz., both grew up in the Clarksdale area. Joe spent his youth working in copper mines and later became a champion middle-weight boxer. Joe invented a taco shell production machine, first crafted from scrap airplane parts. (Photo: The Republic)